New Delhi: Bollywood actor and BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Mandi, Kangana Ranaut could find her prospects spoiled after three local BJP leaders held a meeting with other five party leaders in Pandoh. The seat is currently held by Himachal Pradesh Congress president, Pratibha Singh.
The three BJP leaders, former BJP MP Maheshwar Singh’s son Hiteshwar Singh, former state BJP general secretary Ram Singh and former Anni MLA Kishori Lal Sagar were denied tickets in the 2022 Assembly elections and had rebelled against the BJP to contest as independent candidates, reports The Tribune. Ram Singh had secured 11,937 out of 71,165 votes polled in the last assembly elections from the Kullu Sadar constituency. Hiteshwar had bagged 14,932 of 61,908 votes polled in the Banjar constituency while Kishori Lal had secured 6,893 of 67,468 votes polled in the Anni constituency in the same elections.
Former chief minister Jai Ram Thakur was in Kullu on March 26 night and he tried to pacify Maheshwar Singh, the newspaper reported, but the very next day, the former MP’s son Hiteshwar was making strategies with eight disgruntled BJP leaders. Ram Singh had distanced himself from the party after he was denied a ticket for the Assembly elections. He said that the state BJP leadership was embracing Congress leaders but those who had given their entire life to the party were being ignored.
Now, the three leaders from the district, along with five others from Mandi, have come together on one platform and this is likely to upset the BJP’s plans to wrest the Mandi seat from the Congress party.
In the Amravati Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra, NDA ally, MLA Bacchu Kadu-led Prahar Janashakti Paksha has fielded its candidate, making it a three-way fight between Navneet Rana (BJP), Balwant Wankhede (Congress) and Dinesh Boob (Prahar). Boob’s candidature was announced by the PJP office-bearers on Friday in a hurried press conference, reports Mid-day.
Kadu refused to withdraw his candidate and was ready to break ties with the NDA, if need be. The Shinde Sena leader Abhijit Adsul, former MLA, and his father, the former Amravati MP, Anandrao Adsul, have also openly expressed their displeasure at Rana’s candidature. Abhijit has threatened to contest the election as an independent.
Navneet Rana was elected as an independent in 2019 but chose to support the BJP. Despite her caste certificate being challenged in the court, the ruling party inducted her into its fold and gave her the ticket. In Amravati, the BJP has just one MLA supporting it, while Kadu’s Prahar has two MLAs, and the Congress three.
